The Tribune, January 17, 2004

Marriage party looted of Rs 1 lakh at gunpoint 
Tribune Reporters

Ambala, January 16
Members of a marriage party were looted of Rs 1 lakh at gunpoint at Barara around 2 am today. The marriage party was returning from Barara to Zaffarpur in six vehicles when it was forced to stop near Binjalpur village. A tree trunk had been kept on the road, seeing which some car occupants tried to remove it. Six youths who had covered their faces with mufflers accosted them. Three of the youths were armed with pistols while two others had sharp-edged weapons with them.

They demanded that the jewellery, cash and expensive items being carried by the marriage party be handed over to them. Members of the marriage party handed over their expensive items, including mobile phones, to the youths. After threatening them with dire consequences, the looters escaped. Members of the marriage party informed the police, which rushed to the spot. Police teams were formed to trace the looters. Members of the marriage party affected included Sushil, Amar Nath, Sher Singh, Baldev Singh, Rakesh, Babloo, Mamta, Rishu Garg and Vipul. The bride and the groom were not part of the marriage party, which was returning after the completion of the marriage ceremony.

Similar incidents had taken place in areas neighbouring Ambala district earlier. In an incident at Naraingarh, the vehicles were forced to stop and the passengers were looted at gunpoint. A police officer said the incident at Naraingarh was similar to those at other places, including Solan, Nalagarh, Raipur Rani, Kala Amb and Sadhaura.

The Superintendent of Police, Ambala, Mr Mohammad Akil, said the gang involved in the looting of a marriage party near Barara had been identified. He summoned an emergency meeting of senior police officers in the camp office late this evening to finalise the strategy to arrest those involved in the crime. Later talking to Chandigarh Tribune, he said the police had identified the gang involved in the crime. He said this gang had earlier committed such crimes in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttaranchal. It was an inter-state gang operating in the northern region for the past several months, he added. Asked whether members of the gang belonged to Uttar Pradesh or Haryana, he declined to reply to the question. Mr Akil said three police partiers had been sent to different places, including Uttar Pradesh, in search of the accused.